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Once again, Bill Clinton tries unsuccessfully to nudge an inconvenient Democrat from a Senate race

Bill was asking one of the few African-American candidates in the country to quit? That sounds pretty bad. Are there more details?

Well, now after campaigning several times for Rep. Kendrick Meek in the crucial Florida Senate seat race, BC is back at it. He’s trying — perhaps on his own, perhaps not — in these last desperate days to convince Meek to quit, give up, abandon his hopeless Sunshine State struggle.

See it would work like this: Meeks drops out and endorses (former Republican now independent) Charlie Crist, who then can defeat Mad Hatter Marco Rubio.

The expectation is that an supposedly independent Sen. Crist (he of the huge economic stimulus Obama hug onstage last year) would caucus in Washington with Harry Reid’s crowd, albeit a diminished one. Think Joe Lieberman and Bernie Saunders.

The story is a disaster for Meek’s effort to claim continuing viability for Tuesday’s voting. It broke late Thursday on Politico, saying Clinton and go-betweens came ever so close to convincing Meek to become a martyred hero last week.

That’s some pretty cold-blooded politics, and it sure don’t sound like the Big Dawg I know. Wait, what’s this paragraph two-thirds of the way down the article say?

A Meek spokesman said: “The article is not true. Kendrick Meek was never dropping out of this race, is never dropping out of this race, and will never drop out of this race.”

Studies have shown that people reading articles in magazines and newspapers tend to stop reading after the first few paragraphs. So we have an article that makes it sound like it is totally undisputed that Bill Clinton did a shitty thing, and they buried the denial near the bottom.

This way Andrew Malcolm and the LA Times can truthfully say they presented both sides of the story. But they’re still lying.

I’m guessing this story is going to be made into one more of those political urban legends “everybody knows” about the Clintons that just ain’t true.

I would argue that Clinton is logic brilliant and able to communicate, plus he is willing to work hard. However it does not take much thinking to come to the conclusion that Meek does not has much of a chance.

I suspect in quiet conversations the money has dried up for Meek. However Clinton will stand beside him to save him for another day.

This is a rat!(@k by the WH. Crist was talking to the WH and he will not say exactly to whom. But my guess is Obama who wants another Republican fake independent in the Senate just like himself. President Clinton is too popular, getting too much good press, and willing to go out and actually work for candidates untlike the creeps in the WH. This is all about payback for backing Hillary instead of him in 2008. What a vindictive little $(!t we have in the WH.

And it is revealing Crist to be just another opportunistic slime ball . Being in cahoots with the WH should be the kiss of political deathe. I hope the Florida voters see what he is up to behind the scenes.

Democrats in Florida dont need a circular firing squad controversy that has the potential to depress the party’s base. Meek wasn’t going to win the Senate race. But Alex Sink has a shot to win the governor’s mansion. The Democratic Party needs supporters of Charlie Crist’s and Kendrick Meek’s to show up on Tuesday. Alex SInk has the right to be incredibly angry right now.

Clinton will get more knocks than he deserves here. There’s this narrative out there that Clinton does nothing for people who didn’t support his wife. Ha! (Ask Joe Manchin if that’s true. Clinton has done basically whatever’s been asked of him, except in cases where someone was challenging a Hillary supporter in a primary. But the White House was ok with that. Anyway, Meek stuck with Hillary until June.

Meek could be — could have been — a senator four years from now when or if Bill Nelson retires. Now his reputation is going to be tarnished. And now, the Democrats look desperate…desperately afraid that they’re going to lose the Senate.

Obama essentially opposed Meek during the primary because the WH didn’t think Meek could beat Rubio. If he gave any support to Meek it was half-hearted and already undercut by the fact that everyone knew the WH didn’t want him.

I’m not sure what happened with Clinton, but I hope he gives a better explanation soon. Maybe he doesn’t want to offend Obama. I don’t get it, because Clinton has supported other candidates that Obama didn’t like.

Former President Bill Clinton says he talked to Rep. Kendrick Meek about ending his bid for Senate twice, but that he never discussed the issue with the White House.

“He was trying to determine what was the best thing for him to do,” Clinton said in an interview with CNN’s Susan Candiotti Thursday. “I knew it was being discussed, people had discussed it on and off… it was no secret.”

Clinton said Meek did not have enough money to break through in the polls.

“He was trying to think about what was the best thing for Florida,” Clinton said.

He said he thought it was important that Meek not discuss the issue with the White House, and instead do whatever he thought was right.

Clinton declined to detail his discussions with Meek or address whether he had planned to attend a joint event with Crist and Meek.

“I think he should be free to say whatever he wants to say about it,” Clinton said. “He’s the candidate, it’s his life, his choice, his decision.”

Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek said it was Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and not former President Bill Clinton who asked him to end his Senate bid in Florida.

Meek talked Friday about the issue during an interview with CNN’s “American Morning.”

Meek denied published reports that Clinton had tried to persuade him to drop out of the race because of he might steal votes from Crist….

“He never asked me to get out of the race. I never told him I was getting out of the race,” Meek said, referring to Clinton. “Governor Crist talked to me about getting out of the race. I recommend to the governor that he should consider getting out of the race.”

The allegations bubbled up Thursday when Crist, the Republican-turned-independent Senate candidate, said he spoke with Meek and “several people” at the White House about having Meek step out of the race.

Crist, who appeared on Fox News, would not specify to whom he spoke to at the White House, but said he spoke to Meek about the possible shift and that Meek was “considering it.”

Crist said that he spoke with Doug Band, a counselor to Clinton, who Crist said acted as an intermediary, relaying information about whether or not Meek would end his Senate bid.

Meek denied any intent to exit the three-way race among Rubio, Crist and himself.

I really like Bill Clinton but I don’t think there is a better explanation. Doug Band, his communications director, is quoted as confirming the story in Politico. Either Politico is lying about that, or this happened pretty much as reported.

The important thing to me is that Florida primary voters didn’t lose their votes again. Democracy counted for a change. Meek is a good candidate. We’ll hear from him again.

I think the WH has been using BC as a go-between, like with Sestak, and that there are sticks we are not hearing about.
Such as, “if X candidate insists on running and loses, he will face such-&-such consequence from the WH”. In that scenario, I can see BC taking stock of a candidates chances of winning vs the cost of losing and advising him to pick another, more winnable, battle.

Crist himself (on Greta show–video) said he had not spoken with Clinton (just the aide), but he HAD spoken to the WH about Meek withdrawing . Wouldn’t specify who at the WH, but confirmed that he had spoken to WH.

What we don’t know yet: Who at WH then spoke to Doug Band re speaking to Meek? (see previous bs with Patterson, Sestak, etc)

Meek videos show him saying Clinton NEVER asked him to withdraw from race. Talked to him, but let him make his own decision.

Looks to me like a Crist game, as in saying one thing to Floridians, but working “deals” with the WH, behind closed doors.

The real issue will be how the African American voters view this WH game.

No, its not just you. Obama is a snake and Axlrod is evil. In both cases you are right. Obama has no loyalty to African Americans. They are suffering more than most Americans in this economic down turn and foreclosure crisis, and Obama has done nothing for them. He was raised white people and groomed by white elitists. He’s race is only a factor when he can use it to garner votes.

This may be men-spirited of me, but based on this and Governor Paterson history, I suspect he thinks the more AA pols get elected, the less special and historic he will be. Or maybe the less alternatives the AA voters will have.

Yeah, that’s how it looks to me, too. If there are multiple black candidates, then the black vote is not a lock for 0. It sounds so petty, but he’s proven he’s petty on more than one occasion. When he tried to gut Paterson it really raised my eyebrows.

I think the repubs are on to it, too. They have fielded a lot of black, Hispanic, and female candidates.

In all I have heard and read about this story, the WH did not play much of a role in this. In fact, I did not hear Christ himself mention the WH – he said ‘i talked to people who told me Clinton talked to Meeks about dropping out’. Politico mentioned that the WH knew about this but did not get involved.
Why is the WH being blamed for this?

If you read the full interview, what Mr. McConnell was saying was that, in 1995, Republicans erred by focusing too much on their policy agenda and not enough on destroying the president: “We suffered from some degree of hubris and acted as if the president was irrelevant and we would roll over him. By the summer of 1995, he was already on the way to being re-elected, and we were hanging on for our lives.” So this time around, he implied, they’ll stay focused on bringing down Mr. Obama.

True, Mr. McConnell did say that he might be willing to work with Mr. Obama in certain circumstances — namely, if he’s willing to do a “Clintonian back flip,” taking positions that would find more support among Republicans than in his own party. Of course, this would actually hurt Mr. Obama’s chances of re-election — but that’s the point.

Wow. Paul Krugman is just noticing that politics ain’t bean bag.
We warned people, but they didn’t listen. Hillary knew what to expect:

It is highly unlikely that it could be a cell phone even if she was a time traveller. Two problems: 1) Who could she be talking to? Who else would have a cell phone. 2) How would she have service with no cell tower?

I have a Bill related question. I am thinking that if I vote for the Dems Bill is personally campaigning for (here in PA that’s Sestak & the gov candidate) and they manage to win; that will be a favor owed by them to the Clintons, right? Because that’s the main reason I would bother to vote for them.

that’s my strategy this go round in CA… if Bill came and campaigned, then the candidate gets the vote… I want the Clintons’ to have all the chits they need in their pockets.

if the candidate is an o-supportin’ backstabber that Obama campaigned for, then I will find a vote against that candidate. I’ve decided to give that vote a candidate on the list whose platform is supportable. I don’t want to give any mandate to the Republican but need to make some sort of statement, no matter how tiny.

I like my rep, Ciro Rodriguez – big Hillary guy, and made a stink about no-strings-attached bank bailouts. He’s blue-collar and a good, sensible guy.

The rest I could care less about, so haven’t decided which direction my protest goes yet (not that it matters in TX). Though I will vote for the female R for DA, because her only D opponent is a rich corrupt playboy, who has a conviction for selling Ecstasy. Um, NO.

This stinks to high heaven of a WH hit job. Yes, Bill may have had a discussion with Meeks, or passed on concerns from the party to his friend, but he didn’t pressure anyone. The WH was talking directly to Christ.

Meeks was Hillary-ized: “Drop out already!” And when he refused, and relayed that through Bill (who was fine with it), they decided to go Def Con on Meeks via the media.

I think the Dems and Obama are doing two things here:

1) Cast Bill in a bad light, as a pre-emptve strike against the Clintons just in case anyone in the party gets the bright idea to have a talk with Obama, and switch horses in 2012. Try to drive another wedge between the Clintons and the black community.

2) They need Rubio to lose, and it’s not just about this one senate seat. They are not pulling crap like this in other senate races. The truth is that Marco Rubio is a HUGE threat to them going forward if he wins. He’s only 35 years old. He’s personable, he’s charming, he’s handsome. He has charisma and sincerity out the wazoo. He’s very reasonable, very well-spoken, and can explain very conservative positions without sounding like a looney tune. And he is Hispanic. “Oh, shit” is an understatement.

This is not someone that the Dems want to see become to new face of the GOP, sitting on a presidential ticket in a few years. Because he blows the reliable “creaky old white dudes” meme out of the water. He’s a big threat, far beyond the senate race. So they are trying hard to take him out early, at almost any cost. They’d rather have anyone besides Marco Rubio win that race.

I understand the concern. What i despise is throwing a damn good candidate under the bus in an effort to deal with those concerns. Once again, it’s all about party power plays instead of the Dem voters choosing whom they want to represent them, and the party backing their choice, win or lose, in the general.

Democratic Senate nominee Kendrick Meek, making the morning TV news rounds today, says he and former President Clinton discussed Meek dropping out of the race — but only in the context of addressing rumors that Meek says were spread by independent rival Charlie Crist.

Meek denied that Clinton asked him to get out of the Senate race or that he agreed to do so.

“President Clinton and I talked about it. Yes we did. But he didn’t say, ‘Hey, this is my recommendation to you.’ Because that’s not his place. The bottom line is, he asked me about the reports of last week and the week before,” Meek told CNN.

“I’m not playing politics. I’m not doing backroom deals,” Meek said.

Meek said Clinton, who campaigned in Florida with Meek last week, “saw some reports the week before of course that the Crist campaign was pushing that I was going to get out of the race and I said that’s not the case,” Meek said. “We talked about it and I said I’m not going to sell out on the people of the state of Florida — not that he was asking me to do so. He never asked me to get out of the race. I never told him that I was getting out of the race. But it seems to be part of the Crist strategey…for me to sell out on the people of the state of Florida. I’m not in that business. I’m not going to do it.”

Meek said he and Clinton were alone when they spoke

“President Clinton and I had a discussion….No one was in the room. We talked head on head about this issue. There was no agreement,” Meek told CNN.

Will the guy who leaked this story keep working for Bill Clinton? That will be interesting to learn.

I think all the above is good analysis. But I also think that the more specific and immediate objective of this ratfucking by the WH is to counter the consequences of Big Dawg’s and Hillary’s candidate winning over Obama-backed Chaffee in Rhode Island. They’re trying to create a win-one/lose one draw for the Clintons and the WH, instead of a win-one and stood-loyally-by-another-in-the-face-of-really-bad-odds for Bill and Hillary. The Clintons are accumulating political capital by the fistful this election season. We’re seeing not only the opening of Obama’s 2012 campaign, but Hillary’s.

The Clintons are accumulating political capital by the fistful this election season. We’re seeing not only the opening of Obama’s 2012 campaign, but Hillary’s

I hope you are right…but they had accumulated enough political capital to fund several small nations over the 20 years before 2008….and it didn’t buy them much when it counted. I think in large measure they are trying to keep their idea of what a Dem is alive…not easy. I also think the pressure on Hill to accept the VP nomination will grow over the next two years…what else does this crowd have? They won’t change the top of the ticket ….willingly…. and Obama inc would love to take down Hill with it when it loses .

It’s the NYT the fish wrap that helped derail Al Gore and John Kerry then parrotted the Bush administration’s BS so we went into Iraq.
I can’t think of any other media outlet that has caused as much damage.

It seems clear that this play was set in motion early, and the media had all the talking points to run with last night and today. Too bad both Crist and Meeks already spilled the beans before. Which just goes to show, when you have the talking points, even if the game changes and the truth has already come out, no need to change, just go with the lies. Most people won’t notice. This is the most clear case of CDS based manipulations from the WH and the pathetic talking point pushing, order following MSM I’ve ever seen.

This is the most clear case of CDS based manipulations from the WH and the pathetic talking point pushing, order following MSM I’ve ever seen

The Sestak ambush sprung on Bill this spring was bad as well….the WH tired to get Bill into legal trouble then by spreading rumors of Bill offering Sestak a ” job” if he dropped out and let Arlen win. The media tried to get it going , but it died out …. and Bill is still out there trying to help Dems. Someone else would have been scared off from helping the Dems the WH doesn’t want ( i.e. the actual Dems) But not Bill.

Bill Clinton was and is, first last and always, a pragmatic politician. It’s silly to say that “oh, the White House MADE him do this.” If he thought it was a dumb idea to try to convince Meek to drop out he wouldn’t have done it. But he did try to convince him on several occasions, because he understood the logic that an independent Crist is way better to have around than right-winger Rubio. Remember, this is the same Bill Clinton who signed the death warrant for a retarded man, because from his point of view it was the pragmatic thing to do. It doesn’t change the that he was a great president, but don’t put the guy on a pedestal.

Uh….no. Bill Clinton has been campaigning for Meeks, giving him active support. Both Meeks and Clinton say they had a tete-a-tete discussing Meeks’ chances, and Clinton said it’s up to Meeks, do what you think is right, etc. That is completely believable, AND coroborated by the only two people present in the room.

How likely is it that Bill Clinton is running around the country campaigning for people and then urging them to quit after all the sh!t Hillary went through with the media and party hacks screaming for her to quit in 2008?? NOT LIKELY at all.

I don’t need to put Bill Clinton on a pedestal to recognize that right now, he is the best damn mover, shaker, analyst, and counselor the dem party has.

Oh, nonsense. This is Chicago thuggery, pure and simple, providing The One with plausible deniability , while he’s screwing the African American in favor of the pasty-white bought-and–sold shape-shifter Crist.

There’s no “pedestal” here. Just respect for an experienced politician who allowed Meeks to make his own decision, while warning of the KNIFING he was about to receive from Chicago boys.

You know–the same damm Chicago boys who called the Clintons raycists to win the primaries, the same ones who need Clinton’s help now to save their a**es, the same ones who will throw him under the bus when they’re done using him.

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